Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is a popular American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads.
In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and percussion himself when recording. He is known for his elaborate stage performances and music videos. Kravitz has had multiple number 1 hits on the US Top Singles Charts and many more worldwide. He won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category and most consecutive wins in one category. He has been nominated many more times and has also won many other prestigious awards. He has sold an estimated 38 million albums worldwide
Kravitz was born in New York City, New York, the son of Roxie Roker, an actress known for her character Helen Willis in the 1970s hit television sitcom The Jeffersons, and Sy Kravitz, an NBC television news producer. Kravitz`s father was of Russian Jewish descent[1] and his mother was of Bahamian descent. Kravitz was named after his uncle, Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action on March 6, 1951 near Yangpyeong, Korea at the age of 20. PFC. Kravitz fearlessly defended against a surprise Chinese Army attack, saving most of his platoon; he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military decoration of the United States Army.[2]
Kravitz grew up spending weekdays on the Upper East Side of Manhattan attending P.S. 6 on 81st and Madison with his parents at his grandmother Bessie Roker`s house in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Kravitz began banging on pots and pans in the kitchen, playing them as drums at the age of three. At the age of five, he wanted to be a musician. He began playing the drums and soon added guitar. Kravitz grew up listening to the music his parents listened to: R&B, jazz, classical, opera, gospel, and blues. "My parents were very supportive of the fact that I loved music early on, and they took me to a lot of shows," Kravitz said.[3] Around the age of 7, he saw The Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden, which became his favorite group.[4] His father, who was also a jazz promoter, was friends with Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, Miles Davis and other jazz greats. Ellington even played "Happy Birthday" for him one year when he was about 5.[5] He was exposed to the soul music of Motown, Stax, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers and Gamble and Huff growing up, key influences on his musical style. Kravitz often went to see New York theater, where his mother worked. His mother encouraged his dreams of pursuing music.
In 1974, the Kravitz family relocated to Los Angeles when Kravitz`s mother landed her role on The Jeffersons. At his mother`s urging, Kravitz joined the California Boys Choir for three years, where he performed a classical repertoire, and sang with the Metropolitan Opera. He performed in Mahler`s Third Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. It was in Los Angeles that Kravitz was first introduced to rock music, listening to Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie,[citation needed] The New York Dolls,[citation needed] Pink Floyd, Cream, and The Who.[4] "I was attracted to the cool style, the girls, the rock `n` roll lifestyle," Kravitz said.[4] Kravitz`s other musical influences at the time included Fela Kuti, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye and Miles Davis;[4] John Lennon and Bob Marley proved later to be influential as well. Kravitz attended Beverly Hills High School. Maria McKee and guitarist Saul Hudson (better known as Slash) were his classmates. In 1978, Kravitz was accepted into the school`s well-respected music program. He taught himself to play piano and bass, and made friends with Zoro who would later become his long-time collaborator.[6] Kravitz wanted to be a session musician. He also appeared as an actor in television commercials during this time.
Kravitz went to school enough to pass, but was spending more and more time jamming with friends. His parents became concerned, wanting him to have something to fall back on. At the age of 15, determined to have a music career, Kravitz moved out of his house. He stayed with friends, slept in friends` cars, and at one point was even sleeping in his Ford Pinto. Inspired by David Bowie and The New York Dolls,[citation needed] Kravitz adopted the nom de guerre, "Romeo Blue," a new persona complete with straightened hair, eyeliner and mascara,[citation needed] and blue contact lenses, and began performing. Kravitz`s music at this time was heavily influenced by the synth-laden funk pop of Prince. In 1982, Kr

Couple Profile Source

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz

High School

Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills, CA

Full Name at Birth

Leonard Albert Kravitz

Occupation Text

Singer-songwriter, producer, arranger, instrumentalist, actor

Has Detailed Data (Music)

1

Age

53

Father

Sy Kravitz

Mother

Roxie Roker

Wikipedia Text

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actor and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk and ballads. In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and percussion himself when recording.

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